Evil noble, Kiyohara no Takehiro, trying to become Emperor, takes prisoner Kamo Jiro Yoshitsuna and others of his followers because they oppose his plan. He orders Narita Goro to cut their heads off. At the exact moment, Kamakura Gongoro Kagemasa appears, saying “Shibaraku (Just a moment!”) and rescues them.

One of Kabuki Juhachiban. A period peice (jidaimono). Aragoto.
It was first performed as one scene in the play “Sankai Nagoya” at Nakamura Theatre in Edo in January, 1697.
It is also said that it was first performed in the play, “Daifukucho Asahina Hyaku Monogatari”at Morita Theatre in Edo in January,1692.
In the Edo period Kabuki, the New Year started in November and it was the time for the playhouses to shift their actors. The show which introduced their actors are called “Kaomise” and it has been called so to this day. There was always a scene called “Shibaraku” in the play in November Kaomise. It developed gradually and Fukuchi Ochi revised it in 1895. It has been performed as an one-act play independently on the basis of it since then.